NR #1996-019: Christian Reformed Decline Reaches 9.2% of Denominaton; Fourth
Consecutive Year of Decline Costs CRC Over 24,600 Members, Drops Denomination
Back to 1979 Levels
Nobody is calling the precipitous Christian Reformed membership decline
"leakage" now that it has cost the CRC 24,619 members in four years - a loss
greater than the total membership of many denominations with which the CRC
maintains fraternal relations. According to the 1996 CRC yearbook, the
denominational decline has now reached 9.2% of the CRC's high-water mark of
316,415 members in the 1992 denominational yearbook - a statistic
representing denominational membership six months before Synod 1992's
decision to allow women to do most work of the ministry without ordination.
Prior to 1992, the CRC had never had two consecutive years of decline.
However, one bright spot in the numbers is that this year's loss of 2383
members wasn't as bad as the three previous years in which the CRC lost
between five and ten thousand members annually.
[GRAPH ATTACHED IN HARD COPY]
NR #1996-019: For Immediate Release
Christian Reformed Decline Reaches 9.2% of Denomination
* Fourth consecutive year of decline costs CRC over 24,600 members, drops
denomination back to 1979 levels
by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer
United Reformed News Service
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (February 26, 1996) URNS - When the conservative movement
warned that a move toward ordaining women would prompt massive secessions
from the Christian Reformed denomination, one denominational leader dismissed
the possibility of secessions by commenting that "all denominations have
leakage." Nobody is calling the precipitous Christian Reformed membership
decline "leakage" now that it has cost the CRC 24,619 members in four years -
a loss greater than the total membership of many denominations with which the
CRC maintains fraternal relations.
According to official statistics in the 1996 CRC yearbook, the
denominational decline has now reached 9.2% of the CRC's high-water mark of
316,415 members in the 1992 denominational yearbook - a statistic
representing denominational membership six months before Synod 1992's
decision to allow women to do most work of the ministry without ordination.
Prior to 1992, the CRC had never had two consecutive years of decline.
However, one bright spot in the numbers is that this year's loss of 2383
members wasn't as bad as the three previous years in which the CRC lost
between five and ten thousand members annually.
At least part of the reduction in the annual decline is due to the decision
of the Interclassical Conference, a gathering last November attended by
conservative members from 110 Christian Reformed congregations, to ask Synod
1996 to revise Synod 1995's decision allowing women's ordination rather than
calling for an immediate secession. Only five churches split or seceded for
conservative reasons during 1995, accounting for less than 800 of the 2383
lost members.
According to CRC General Secretary Dr. David Engelhard, some of the change
in the reported numbers stems from the fact that the CRC is moving toward
assessing financial contributions based on the number of members rather than
on the number of families in the congregation. "Churches are saying to
themselves and to their classes and to the denomination that we have 'x'
number of students who are college students or who never attend, so our
reporting system, while never perfect, is now undergoing some fairly
significant alteration directly related to the ministry share," said
Engelhard. "If the council had some question about whether they were active
members they would on their own authority simply decide not to always report
them. In the old system we didn't need to ferret that out, but now you have
to pay according to members so they look at that much more carefully than
they did before."
While the 1996 yearbook decline may be partly attributable to such
statistical problems, there is no question that the larger four-year decline
cannot. Of the 24,619 departing CRC members, at least 12,000 have ended up in
the Alliance of Reformed Churches, 4000 in the Christian Presbyterian Church,
and 1100 in the Orthodox Christian Reformed Churches - all conservative
groups that have left the CRC due to women in office and related issues. The
departures have definitely had a financial impact on the denomination.
"The ministries have had to pare back some of their work; World Ministries
and World Relief, Home Missions, a variety of works, have had to freeze their
budgets or cut back," said Engelhard.
"When you have fewer people you're obviously going to have less income, but
the effect was not as dramatic as we assumed because some of the people in
the congregations that left had stopped paying their ministry shares long
before they withdrew," said Engelhard. "I do know that this past year 1995
was a better year for receipt of ministry shares than the previous year had
been in terms of actual dollars."
According to Engelhard, the denomination has not yet drafted a plan to deal
with its declining membership. "The Christian Reformed Church as far as I
know has made no particular decision to stem the decline," said Engelhard.
"That's not a corporate office decision, it's something the church has always
worked on communally and will continue to work on communally."
However, Engelhard saw reason for hope in the fact that the Christian
Reformed denomination has more local congregations even if it has fewer
members. In 1996, the CRC reported 991 local congregations, 136 of which are
emerging mission churches or specialized ministries - a net increase of ten
churches during the same period that the denomination lost nearly ten percent
of its membership.
"One of the things that our home missions board had worked on in the classes
is planting churches," said Engelhard. "The number of churches we presently
have has increased which means that in more neighborhoods and communities the
gospel is being preached and people are being called to commitment in our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
Cross-References to Related Articles:
#1993-004: Christian Reformed Financial Crunch Prompts Hiring and Salary
Freeze, $4.5 Million Denominational Budget Cut
#1993-010: Christian Reformed Seceders Hit 32 Churches, 7255 Members
#1993-015: Massive Membership Decline Wipes Out Three Years of Christian
Reformed Growth; Largest Decline in CRC History Knocks Denomination Back to
1989 Levels; CRC Yearbook Undercounts Loss By 4500 members
#1993-043: Christian Presbyterian Church Takes Form as Many Koreans Depart
Systematically from Christian Reformed Denomination
#1993-044: First General Assembly of Christian Presbyterian Church Enrolls
41.4% of Christian Reformed Koreans
#1994-006: 1994 CRC Yearbook Reports Loss of 11,000 Members, Ten Years of
Growth Wiped Out; 3.5% drop from 311,202 to 300,320 members unprecedented in
CRC history; Accelerating denominational loss totals 16,095 or 5.1% since
1992; CRC yearbook claims drop from 311,202 to 300,320 equals decline of 783
#1995-016 Continuing Christian Reformed Hemorrhage Costs CRC 22,000 Members
in Three Years; Unprecedented Loss Tops Seven Percent of Pre-1993 Membership,
Knocks Denomination Back Fifteen Years to 1980 Membership Levels
#1995-017 Alliance of Reformed Churches Continues Dramatic Growth
#1995-106C: Interclassical Conference Urges Christian Reformed Synod to Lead
Denomination in Repentance; Calls for Formation of "Covenant Union" of CRC
Conservatives
Contact List:
Dr. David Engelhard, General Secretary, Christian Reformed Church in North
America
2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49560
O: (616) 246-0744 * H: (616) 243-2418 * FAX: (616) 246-0834 * E-Mail:
engelhad@crcnet.mhs.compuserve.com
------------------------------------------------
file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr96-019.txt
.